Patch 5.2: The Thunder King is now available for testing on the Public Test Realms! By logging in you can help us test a massive new raid dungeon, a multi-faceted new quest hub, Pet Battle improvements, new world bosses, significant class balance changes, brand new pets and mounts, assorted bug fixes, and more. If you'd like to help test and provide feedback, you can start by copying your character and downloading the PTR client. Once you've had a chance to try things out, be sure to visit our PTR Discussion forum to discuss the patch, and the PTR Bug Report forum to report any issues or errors.

Please keep in mind that the below notes are not final, and a great deal could change before the final patch 5.2 release.

Here players can join the assault to conquer Emperor Lei Shen's island stronghold, unlock new questlines and daily quest hubs, participate in special events, earn the right to visit the fabled Treasure Room, lay claim to an arsenal of powerful Mogu artifacts for their faction, and more.

Each faction's finest are spearheading the assault: the Kirin-Tor Offensive led by Jaina Proudmoore and the Sunreaver Onslaught led by Lor'themar Theron. Earning reputation with these new factions offers heroes the opportunity to receive new quests and reputation rewards, including powerful items and an intimidating new mount.

After both the Alliance and the Horde have eked out a foothold on the isle, players can choose to perform quests that are PvE or PvP focused. PvP quests will direct players against opposing faction NPCs, but slaying opposing players will grant credit as well.

As the heroes conquer the Isle, they will unlock the powerful Lightning Forge, which will allow Blacksmiths to forge mighty raid-worthy items, as well as classic weapons from the past.

Heroes can join the war effort and find transportation to Isle of Thunder by visiting the Shado-Pan Garrison in Townlong Steppes on the western shores of Pandaria. The Isle of Thunder will be unlocked progressively based on each based on each realms' participation in the war effort, initially only some of the Isle’s features will be unlocked. Future updates will include the Shipyard and the Main Courtyard. On PTR realms, the unlocks will happen according to the schedule posted on the PTR forums.

Heroes fortunate enough to acquire a “Key to the Palace of Lei Shen” can bring it to the Shado-Pan on the Isle of Thunder and use it to infiltrate the fabled treasure vaults of the first emperor. Heroes are tasked with grabbing as much loot as they can within five minutes. Larger chests will have the most loot, including special keys that can be used at the end of the run for a chance at epic gear and other major rewards. Keys are awarded from rare mobs, hidden chests around the island, and from award satchels obtained by completing daily quests.

New Raid: Throne of Thunder

Emperor Lei Shen, the Thunder King, has returned to wreak his vengeance on Pandaria. It falls to the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde to stop the newly resurrected tyrant and his Zandalari allies in the massive new raid: Throne of Thunder.

Throne of Thunder is a sprawling citadel housing 12 new raid encounters, and players that defeat Emperor Lei Shen in Heroic mode can earn the opportunity to face an additional 13th foe.

The Raid Finder version of the Throne of Thunder will be divided into 4 different wings.

Join the Shado-Pan Assault in their singular drive to see Lei Shen, The Thunder King, defeated once and for all, and gain access to impressive Valor reward items. Reputation with this faction can be earned only within the Throne of Thunder raid dungeon.

Please note: During the 5.2 PTR, this raid dungeon will only be available during a limited testing window. Keep an eye on our PTR Discussion forum for details.

The Legendary Quest Continues:

Wrathion must know the origin and source of Mogu power, and Azeroth's mightiest heroes will aid the Black Prince in finding out what it is. The search for information will take players into the depths of the Thunder King's Palace, and pit them against trials of perseverance and skill. Along the way, they'll unlock the secrets to a new legendary metagem, Crown of the Heavens.

Players seeking to re-acquire previous Legendary quest rewards (Such as gems for Sha-touched weapons) can now speak with the Blacktalon Quartermaster, the surly-looking Pandaren standing in the first floor of the Tavern in the Mists.

New World Bosses: Nalak, the Storm Lord and Oondasta

Nalak, the Storm Lord

After the Isle of the Thunder King has been conquered, the gate guardian of the Thunder King's citadel will appear: Nalak, the Storm Lord. Players will frequently have the opportunity to test their mettle against him.

Oondasta

Found in a place that has been lost in time, the great devilsaur lord Oondasta has been outfitted for battle with weaponry and armor by the Zandalari, and awaits players brave enough (or foolhardy enough) to seek him out on the mysterious Isle of Giants found in the seas north of Kun-Lai Summit.

Taking Over The Farm

Players that have grown attached to working the land at Sunsong Ranch can now acquire the farm from Farmer Yoon via a quest. The farmhouse becomes a rest point like an Inn, where the player can bind and instantly log out. Work orders will pour into the farm from factions across Pandaria, and completing a work order will earn a reputation boost with the issuing faction.

The option to take over the farm is available to characters that are exalted with the Tillers and have unlocked all 16 farm plots.

New World Boss System

All world bosses are now Tap to Faction. This new system offers every eligible player of the same faction that engages a boss the chance to earn loot. Under the new system, players will only be able to earn loot from each world boss once per week, but bonus rolls apply. Bosses will now respawn more frequently as well.

Area Damage Cap: The area damage cap is now 20 targets (was 10). This means area of effect damage spells now reach their maximum damage when striking 20 targets. If more than 20 targets are struck, then the total damage done is spread evenly over the actual number of targets present.

The Treants summoned by Force of Nature now deal more damage and healing, and the Force of Nature tooltip will report the capabilities of these summoned pets.

Soul of the Forest

Balance: Now generates 40 Lunar or Solar energy upon leaving Eclipse.

Feral: Unchanged.

Guardian: Generates 3 additional Rage per Mangle.

Restoration: Now grants 75% Haste on the next spell cast after the Druid casts Swiftmend.

Nature's Vigil now has a 90-second cooldown (was 3 minutes), and now increases damage and healing done by 10% (was 20%).

Wrath damage has been increased by 9%.

Balance

Starfire damage has been increased by 9%.

Starsurge damage has been increased by 9%.

Starfall will no longer strike targets that are affected by crowd control effects.

Guardian

Thick Hide now reduces critical strike chance from all types of attacks made against the Guardian Druid, instead of just melee.

Restoration

Naturalist: This new passive learned at level 10 by Restoration Druids increases all healing done by the Druid by 10%.

Wild Mushrooms will now gain 25% of the overhealing performed by the Druid’s Rejuvenation effects, up to a maximum of 33% of the Druid’s health in bonus healing, and growing larger as they do so. When Wild Mushroom: Bloom is cast, this bonus healing will be divided evenly amongst targets in the area of effect.

Invocation now removes Evocation's cooldown, and reduces its channeling time and duration by 50%. A completed Evocation now grants 15% increased damage for 1 minute after an Evocation is completed, instead of25% increased damage for40 seconds. Passive mana regeneration is reduced by 50% only while Invoker's Energy is active.

Glyph of Evocation now causes the Invocation talent to restore 10% (was 20%) health after completing an Evocation.

Greater invisibility now has a 90-second cooldown (was 2.5 minutes).

Frostbolt cast by Mirror Images now deals 50% more damage.

Glyph of Fire Blast has been replaced with Glyph of Inferno Blast. Glyph of Inferno Blast causes damage-over-time effects spread by Inferno Blast to spread to 1 additional target.

Blazing Speed is now a level-15 talent, replacing Scorch.

Flameglow, a new talent is available at level 30 and replaces Blazing Speed. The passive ability encases the Mage in fiery energy, absorbing damage from each attack made against the Mage equal to 20% of their spellpower, up to a maximum of 30% of the attack.

Ice Floes now has a 45-second cooldown (was 1 minute) and its duration has been increased to 15 seconds (was 10 seconds).

Incanter's Ward can now be removed by magic dispels.

Ring of Frost cast instantly through Presence of Mind now has a 2-second arming period before the Freeze effect is activated against targets in the area of effect. The 2-second arming period can be reduced by Haste.

Temporal Ripples from Temporal Shield can no longer be dispelled.

Deep Freeze now stuns the target for 5 seconds (was 4 seconds).

Glyph of Deep Freeze now removes it from global cooldown but also reduces its duration by 1 second.

Mage PvP 2-piece bonus now requires Counterspell to successfully interrupt a spell before applying the 4 second cooldown reduction to Counterspell.

Arcane

For Arcane Mages, Evocation now restores 40% (was 60%) of total mana over 6 seconds, and consumes all Arcane Charges. For each Arcane Charge consumed, the total amount of mana regenerated is increased by 10%, up to a maximum of 80% over 6 seconds. Evocation remains the same for Fire and Frost.

Arcane Blast's damage has been reduced by 22.2% and mana cost has been increased to 1.66667% of base mana (was 1.5%).

Ring of Peace forms an 8 yard sanctuary around a friendly target for 8 seconds, disabling enemy player auto-attacks in PvP, and causing all enemies (both players and NPCs) in the area of effect to be disarmed for the duration. In addition, enemies that cast a damaging spell while within the area of effect will be silenced for 3 seconds. The ability has a 45-second cooldown.

New Windwalker and Brewmaster ability added at level 30: Nimble Brew

Nimble Brew removes all stun, fear, and root effects, and reduces the duration of those effects if they are reapplied by 60% for 6 seconds. It has a 2-minute cooldown.

Chi Wave now does 100% more damage and 14% less healing, and no longer costs Chi, and has a 15-second cooldown.

Zen Sphere now has a limit of 2 (was 1), detonates when either the recipient reaches 35% health or the Zen Sphere is dispelled, no longer costs Chi, and has a 10-second cooldown. Its periodic damage has been increased by 22%, periodic healing has been reduced by 61%, its detonation healing has been reduced by 62%, and detonation range has been increased by 40%.

Chi Burst now does 69% more healing, no longer costs Chi, and has a 30-second cooldown.

Deadly Reach has been removed.

Path of Blossoms has been removed.

Glyph of Path of Blossoms is now Glyph of Paralysis. This glyph causes the Monk's Paralysis ability to remove all damage-over-time effects on the target.

Paralysis is now a physical, non-magical effect, can no longer be dispelled, grounded or reflected, and its base range has been increased to 20 yards. The paralysis effect lasts 40 seconds (was 30 seconds) for non-player targets, 4 seconds when used against other players, and lasts 50% (was 200%) longer when used from behind a target.

Spear Hand Strike, used on a target that's facing the Monk silences them for 2 seconds (was 4 seconds).

Tiger's Lust and Touch of Karma no longer have a Chi cost.

Tiger's Lust can no longer be used on targets that have other temporary speed increases active.

Charging Ox Wave now has a 30-second cooldown (was 60 seconds).

Dampen Harm can now be used while stunned, and its cooldown will now begin when used, not when the effect ends.

Healing Elixirs now heals the Monk for 15% of maximum health (was 10%).

Chi Torpedo now deals 15% more damage.

Healing Spheres now have a duration of 1 minute. Healing Spheres generated by Mastery: Gift of the Serpent have a duration of 30 seconds.

Mistweaver

Jab now costs 8% (was 4%) of base mana to use.

The Glyphed version of Uplift now costs 16% of base mana (was 6.6%) to cast.

Life Cocoon can no longer be dispelled.

Zen Focus, the 4-piece Mistweaver set bonus, is now more responsive.

It is no longer possible to use Thunder Focus Tea while silenced.

Soothing Mists now generates chi more consistently and average generation rate is slightly higher.

Summon Jade Serpent Statue no longer costs mana.

Healing Spheres will now heal for 50% of their original value if they expire without being picked up. This healing will factor in relevant Mastery.

The Windwalker can summon up to 2 elemental duplicates that mirror damaging abilities that the Monk uses while they are active. For each spirit summoned, the Monk's damage is reduced: 1 spirit causes the Monk and the spirit to deal 60% of the Monk's normal damage, while 2 spirits will cause the Monk and both active spirits to deal 45% of the Monk's normal damage. Each spirit lasts until the ability is canceled, that spirit's target dies or otherwise becomes unavailable, or they're killed (they can be targeted and have 10% of the Monk's health).

When using Fist of Fury, the stun effect will only apply from the Monk (not the spirits).

Spinning Fire Blossoms’ damage has been adjusted to scale from weapon damage rather than attack power.

Combo Breaker is now a passive ability granted at level 15 that grants a 12% chance to make the Monk's next Blackout Kick or Tiger Palm cost no Chi.

New Mastery: Bottled Fury

Bottled Fury increases the damage bonus provided by Tigereye Brew by .2% per Mastery per stack.

Brewing: Tigereye Brew now gains 1 charge after spending 3 Chi (was 4 Chi), increases damage by 1% per stack (was 2%), can stack to 20 but only 10 charges can be consumed per activation, and a user interface alert displays upon reaching 10 charges. Stacks of Tigereye Brew are cleared at the start of a raid encounter. This ability is improved by Bottled Fury.

Brewmaster

Black Ox Statue

The damage requirement to activate Sanctuary of the Ox has been increased by 100%. The spell tooltip has been updated to reflect the change.

The amount of healing done by Flash Heal, Binding Heal, Renew, and Prayer of Mending have been reduced by 20%.

Spiritual Healing is a new passive ability obtained by Discipline and Holy Priests at level 10. This ability increases the amount of healing done by Flash Heal, Binding Heal, Renew, and Prayer of Mending by 25%. For Holy and Discipline Priests, there is no decrease to the amount of healing done by those four spells.

Evangelism's stacking effect now also increases the healing of Penance.

Halo will no longer hit enemies that are in stealth.

Angelic Bulwark can no longer be dispelled.

Dominate Mind now has a 1.8-second cast time (was 2.5 seconds).

Angelic Feather now has a 6 second duration (was 4 seconds).

Focused Will is now a passive for Holy Priests, as well as Discipline Priests.

Power Word: Solace has been replaced with a new talent: Solace & Insanity

For Holy and Discipline, Power Word: Solace replaces Holy Fire. It deals the same damage, and interacts with other spells and abilities in the same manner but does not trigger Atonement, is instant, costs no mana, and restores 1% of maximum mana on each cast. Damage dealt by Power Word: Solace will heal a nearby friendly player within 40 yards of the target for 100% of the damage dealt (50% when healing the Priest).

For Shadow, this ability causes Mind Flay to gain the Insanity effect on a target affected by Devouring Plague.when it's cast on a target with 3 Shadow damage-over-time spells on it. Insanity increases the damage of Mind Flay by 33% per Shadow Orb consumed.

Glyph of Mind Spike only works from Mind Spikes that aren't instant casts from Surge of Darkness.

Glyph of Desperation has been replaced with Glyph of Binding Heal. Pain Suppression and Guardian Spirit can now always be cast while stunned.

New Glyph: Glyph of Binding Heal applies Binding Heal a third nearby friendly target, but costs 35% more mana.

Glyph of Inner Focus has been replaced with Glyph of Weakened Soul. Casting Inner Focus now always grants 5 seconds of immunity to silences, interrupts, and dispels.

New Glyph: Glyph of Weakened Soul reduces the duration of Weakened Soul by 2 seconds.

Holy Fire is now an instant cast ability.

Glyph of Holy Fire has been redesigned. It now increases the range of Holy Fire, Smite, and Power Word: Solace by 10 yards.

Power Infusion now increases the Priest's damage by 5% in addition to current effects.

Phantasm no longer makes the Priest untargetable by ranged attacks, and the movement impairing immunity effect is now 5 seconds (was 3 seconds).

Psyfiend belonging to an individual Priest will no longer cast Psychic Horror on the same target twice.

Discipline

Mastery: Shield Discipline now also increases all healing done by a lesser amount, but the bonus provided by Mastery has been reduced by 36%.

Penance damage and healing has been increased by 20%, now a cooldown of 9 seconds (was 10 seconds), and has a range of 40 yards for both friendly and hostile targets (was 40 yards for friendly and 30 yards for hostile targets).

Focused Will now reduce damage taken by 15% per stack, with a limit of 2 stacks.

Spirit Shell can no longer be dispelled and now provides an absorb shield equal to the average healing and absorb of the triggering spell, including criticals and Divine Aegis.

Rapture now reduces the cost of Power Word: Shield by 25% and provides mana equal to 150% (was 200%) of the Priest's Spirit, but no longer benefits from Spirit provided by short-duration bonuses.

Divine Aegis now causes critical heals to apply an absorb shield on the target for 100% of the amount healed instead of healing for twice as much. In addition, it grants Power Word: Shield a chance equal to the Priest's critical chance for the shield to absorb twice as much damage.

Shadow

Mind Blast damage has been increased by 20%.

Dispersion now belongs to the Shadow spell school.

Shadowform now increases the Priest's Shadow damage by 25% (was 20%).

The 2-piece Holy/Discipline PvP set bonus has been replaced by the now the previous 4-piece set bonus.

The 4-piece Holy/Discipline PvP set bonus has been redesigned. It now reduces the cooldown of Chakra by 25 seconds. When Spirit Shell is active, the mana cost of Flash Heal is reduced by 50%.

Preparation is now a baseline ability learned at level 68 and no longer resets the cooldown on Cloak of Shadows.

Versatility has been removed.

New Level 90 Talent: Marked for Death

Marks a target and instantly generates 5 combo points. When that target dies, Marked for Death's cooldown is reset. This talent has a 1-minute cooldown.

New Level 60 Talent: Cloak and Dagger

Ambush, Garrote, and Cheap Shot now have a 30-yard range, and will cause the Rogue to teleport behind the target.

Burst of Speed now costs 30 Energy (was 50 Energy), can be used in Stealth, and always grants increased movement speed in addition to breaking snare effects, but no longer breaks root effects.

Shuriken Toss now causes the Rogue to throw ranged shurikens coated in Lethal Poison and auto-attack at 75% damage (was 80%) for up to 10 seconds if the enemy is farther than 10 yards away.

Deadly Throw can now interrupt spellcasting when used at 3, 4 and 5 combo points, and upon interrupt prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4, 5 and 6 seconds respectively, instead of 5 combo points and 6 seconds.

Blind now has a cooldown of 2 minutes (was 1.5 minutes).

Cloak of Shadows now has a cooldown of 1 minute (was 2 minutes).

Smoke Bomb now reduces damage taken by allies in the area of effect by 20%, in addition to current effects.

Nerve Strike now reduces the effectiveness of healing provided by the target by 10% (was from 25%).

Fel Armor now reduces damage taken by 10%, instead of increasing the Warlock’s armor.

Blood Fear has been replaced by Blood Horror. Blood Horror costs 5% health, has 1 charge, and lasts 60 seconds with a 30-second cooldown. While Blood Horror is active, melee attacks that strike the Warlock will cause the attacker to be horrified for 4 seconds.

Burning Rush now also prevents movement-impairing effects from reducing the Warlock’s movement speed below 100% of normal, in addition to its other effects.

The Imp ability Blood Pact has been removed.

Dark Intent now increases Stamina in addition to Spell Power.

Immolate now deals 20% more damage.

Shadow Bolt now deals 15% more damage.

Soul Leech now provides an absorption shield instead of healing.

Sacrificial Pact now requires the pet to sacrifice 25% of its health to activate (was 50%).

Kil'jaeden's Cunning is now a passive talent, and its activated ability has been removed.

The passive damage from Archimonde's Vengeance no longer has a visual effect.

Grimoire of Sacrifice now increases the damage of abilities by 15% (was 25%) for Destruction Warlocks and 35% (was 50%) for Affliction Warlocks. In addition, it now provides the spell Whiplash instead of Seduction when a Succubus is sacrificed.

Glyph of Burning Embers has been removed and its effects are now baseline for Destruction Warlocks.

Glyph of Soul Shards has been removed and its effects are now baseline for Affliction Warlocks.

New Glyph: Glyph of Ember Tap. This glyph increases the healing gained from Ember Tap by 33%, but the health is restored over 10 seconds.

New Glyph: Glyph of Drain Life. This glyph increases the healing gained from Drain Life by 30%.

Glyph of Unstable Affliction has been redesigned. This glyph now reduces the cast time of Unstable Affliction by 25%.

Affliction

Unstable Affliction’s backlash effect is now always a critical hit and deals approximately 15% more damage.

The benefit of Haste from items and consumables has been increased by 100% for all Warriors.

Bladestorm now provides immunity to disarm while active.

Defensive Stance now reduces damage by 15% (was 25%).

Execute now deals 25% less damage.

Shockwave now has a 40-second cooldown (was 20 seconds), and striking 3 or more targets will reduce its cooldown by 20 seconds.

Second Wind now generates 15 rage (was 20 rage) over 10 seconds.

Warbringer now reduces the target's movement by 50% for 15 seconds (8 seconds in PvP), in addition to its other effects. The 3-second stun/knockdown is now in the diminishing returns category for stuns (same as Shockwave and Storm Bolt), and not the proc stun diminishing returns category.

Shield Barrier now scales approximately 10% less efficiently with attack power.

Storm Bolt now deals 125% weapon damage (was 100%).

Enraged Regeneration now costs 30 Rage (was 60 Rage).

Deadly Calm has been removed from the game.

Glyph of Incite no longer activates from Deadly Calm, and now activates from Demoralizing Shout instead.

Glyph of Overpower is now Glyph of Die by the Sword. It increases the duration of Die by the Sword whenever Overpower or Wild Strike are used.

Glyph of Death from Above no longer increases the damage dealt by Heroic Leap.

Impending Victory will now heal the Warrior for 15% of maximum health when they have not slain an enemy (was 10%).

Arms

Taste for Blood has been redesigned. It now causes the Warrior to gain 2 stacks of Overpower (maximum of 5 stacks) when Mortal Strike deals damage, 1 stack when the target dodges, and no longer interacts with Heroic Strike. It now requires level 20 (used to require level 50).

Warlocks can now undertake a solo adventure that culminates with the ability to change the color of their Fire spells to appear Fel green. The quest begins for those Warlocks determined or fortunate enough to have laid their hands on the fabled Codex of Xerrath.

Upon reaching level 20 and level 60, characters will automatically receive a new quest directing them to visit the racial riding trainer and mount vendors.

Zandalari forces have begun scouting the shores of Pandaria, searching for the perfect invasion point. The Zandalari can be found in Krasarang Wilds, Dread Wastes, Townlong Steppes, Jade Forest, and Kun-Lai Summit. Zandalari Scouts can be handled by 1 or 2 players, while elite Zandalari Warbringers will likely require a full party of 5 heroes. Defeat Warbringers to gain special drops, including crafting materials, reputation gains, an achievement, and even the chance to get one of three new rare mounts!

Players of the same faction that participated in a fight with Pandaria world bosses (Sha of Anger, Galleon, Nalak the Storm Lord, and Oondasta) now get shared credit for the kill and will be eligible for loot.

Galleon now respawns much more frequently, but players can only receive loot from him once per week.

Fite spectral porcupine fite! Three new spectral porcupine spirit beasts have appeared across Pandaria as tamable beasts, though taming them may provide quite a challenge.

Dire Horns have been added as a tamable species for Hunters that have learned the required skill. Aspiring Dire Horn owners should seek out clues regarding these auspicious beasts.

Pets whose color schemes change each time they are summoned have returned. Older pets with this behavior now have it back, as well as some newcomers.

Taming the World now lists its reward correctly in the Achievements pane.

Level capped players will now have a chance to earn Lesser Charms of Good Fortune after winning a pet battle versus a pet within 5 levels of the highest level pet on their team. Higher-level pets will offer a better chance to earn a charm.

Winning a pet battle versus a team within 5 levels of the player's highest-level pet will now award player experience.

Fleeing a pet battle will no longer despawn the pet that was being battled, but doing so will now inflict some damage on the fleeing pet battle team.

Disconnecting from a pet battle will once again respawn the pets you were fighting.

Any wild pet that has been killed in a pet battle will now never respawn.

A number of new pets can be found on the Isle of Lightning, including rare spawn drops, wild pets, and raid boss drops.

Elite Battle Pets have been added to the game world. These rare pets will spawn alone against an entire team. The Beasts of Fable taming quest will now become available from Gentle San or Sara Finkleswitch once Aki the Chosen has been defeated. Defeating all of the fabled beasts will award the new Red Panda pet, while completing the associated daily quest has a chance to award the rare brown, white, and orange variants.

Throne of Thunder loot drops and bonus rolls are now available for testing in Raid Finder, Normal, and Heroic difficulty. Please note that at this stage of testing, art for weapons, armor pieces, and the drop rates themselves are not yet final.

Ao Pye at Niuzao Temple in Towlong Steppes is offering to sell Shadow-Pan Assault faction gear to adventurers for Valor points. Another NPC will also be selling those items in or near the entrance to the Throne of Thunder on Isle of the Thunder King.

For testing purposes, Flaskataur is selling normal Tier 15 armor for gold on the PTR.

Throne of Thunder raid bosses in Normal and Heroic difficulties have a chance of dropping items with the Thunderforged designation. Thunderforged items are 6 item levels higher than their Normal or Heroic counterparts and will drop more frequently in 25-player raids. For a more in-depth look at this change, check out this discussion thread.

To encourage Raid Finder groups to persevere, each time an Raid Finder group wipes on a boss fight all players in the group receives a stacking buff that increases health, damage dealt, and healing done by 5% (up to a maximum of 10 stacks). This buff is cleared once the boss has been killed.

Satchels obtained via the Raid Finder now have a chance to contain additional rewards, including: consumables, Spirits of Harmony, rare pets or mounts, and Raid Finder versions of Normal and Heroic difficulty zone drops that were previously unavailable from Raid Finder encounters!

You can now earn bonus reputation for your first dungeon and scenario of the day. You can select which reputation you choose to champion by selecting it from the reputation panel on the character screen. When you queue for a dungeon or scenario, the UI will remind you which reputation you are championing and allow you to change the reputation from there. (You cannot change that reputation once you are in the dungeon or scenario.)

On Normal and Heroic mode, zone-wide auras have been activated in Mogu’shan Vaults, Heart of Fear, and Terrace of Endless Spring, reducing the health and damage of all enemies therein by 10%. A NPC near the entrance within each zone explains this, and offers to deactivate the buff for the benefit of brave/foolhardy adventurers.

When Patch 5.2 goes live, all players who have defeated Will of the Emperor, Grand Empress Shek’zeer, and/or Sha of Fear prior to the release of Patch 5.2 will receive a Feat of Strength to mark their accomplishments. The Feats of Strength will be: “Ahead of the Curve: (Will of the Emperor, Grand Empress Shek’zeer, Sha of Fear)” for players that have defeated them on Normal difficulty and “Cutting Edge: (Will of the Emperor, Grand Empress Shek’zeer, Sha of Fear)” for players that have defeated them on Heroic difficulty. Once 5.2 is released, these Feats of Strength will no longer be obtainable.

Mogu Runes of Fate have been added and provides a bonus roll for Throne of Thunder, Nalak the Storm Lord, and Oondasta and are purchased with Lesser Charms of Good Fortune. Elder Charms of Good Fortune will continue to work in Mogu'shan Vaults, Heart of Fear, Terrace of Endless Spring, the Sha of Anger, and Salyis' Warband (Galleon).

The maximum number of Elder Charms of Good Fortune a character can hold has been increased to 20 (was 10).

The chance of getting personal loot in Raid Finder and the chance of a successful bonus roll in Raid Finder have been greatly increased for the 5.0 raids.

Lorewalker Cho has two new tales to tell: Dagger in the Dark and A Little Patience. Though his mystical story-weaving magic (and well, the Dungeon Finder), both Alliance and Horde characters are now able run these previously faction-specific Scenarios.

Level 90 players that use Dungeon Finder to look for a random Dungeon or Scenario will receive additional bonus Valor Points upon completing specific Dungeons or Scenarios.

Heroic Pandaria dungeons now award 100 Justice Points per boss. Gold drops for those bosses have also been changed from a static 50 gold to a 40-60 gold range. Less gold will drop in groups consisting of less than 5 players.

A new vendor has been added offering to sell Conquest PvP gear for Honor to characters that have earned 27,000 Conquest during the season. They can be found near existing Pandaria PvP vendors.

Tyrannical Elite items have been updated so that they have the same un-budgeted PVP Power and Resilience values as standard Tyrannical items.

Mists of Pandaria Season 12 Malevolent Gladiator’s PvP gear can now be purchased with Honor Points instead of Conquest Points, including weapons.

All newly purchased Season 12 Malevolent Gladiator’s armor, off-hands and shields will have an item level of 476 (was 483). Existing Malevolent items are unaffected.

Balance, Feral, Windwalker, Retribution, Shadow, Enhancement and Elemental now gain 25% of the bonus healing provided by PvP Power (was 0). Dedicated healers will continue to gain 50% of the bonus healing, and no bonus damage, from PvP Power.

PvP trinkets that clear loss-of-control effects will now also clear these effects from the player's pet as well.

For casters and healers, PvP Power is now split evenly between main-hand and off-hand in a manner similar to a dual-wield melee class. This change is retroactive, affecting Season 12 Malevolent and Malevolent Elite items. There should be no net change for any character already using a main-hand/off-hand combination.

PvP caster weapons in Season 13 cost 2250 Conquest Points (was 2500) and shields/off-hands cost 1250 (was 1000), to reflect the increased value of the off-hand slot for classes that use it in this manner. This change is not retroactive and applies only to Season 13 items.

Characters that have attained requisite title levels (Centurion, Knight-Captain, Grand Marshal, High Warlord, etc.) through the Rated Battleground system will be able to purchase old PVP items requiring those titles.

Players can obtain a new title "Khan", by completing the following Battleground achievements: Master of the Battle for Gilneas, Master of Twin Peaks, Master of Temple of Kotmogu, Master of Isle of Conquest, and Master of Silvershard Mines.

Players in low-level Battlegrounds will have their effective level raised to the maximum level allowed in that Battleground bracket. Players' base stats and spells are scaled accordingly, and are treated as the same level when determining hits, misses, and critical effect chance.

Rated Battlegrounds now award Conquest to the losing team based on their final score. The losing team can earn up to 200 Conquest Points from a very close match.

The Lorewalker’s Map now randomizes all digsites in Pandaria, rather than just 1.

Updates have been made to the “museum” at the Seat of Knowledge.

Blacksmithing

New raid and PvP blacksmithing recipes have been added, and can be acquired through daily research of Lightning Steel Ingots.

Seasoned Blacksmiths will be able to find a way to create Lightning Steel Ingots once their realm has unlocked the Thunderforges on the Isle of Thunder. These ingots will allow blacksmiths to recreate powerful weapons from the past, updated for Mists of Pandaria. These power weapons will be bind-on-equip and making them will take a significant amount of dedication.

For blacksmiths who have lapsed in their trade (i.e., haven’t practiced blacksmithing since the Burning Crusade), there is a (not necessarily cost efficient) way to catch-up. Blacksmiths at your faction’s shrines in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms will be able to teach you training plans for crafting common household items using Ghost Iron.

Fishing

The chance to fish up Flying Tiger Gourami, Spinefish Alpha and Mimic Octopus has been increased.

Reputation gains from bringing rare Pandarian fish for Nat Pagle to examine has been increased.

Players with a high fishing skill have a chance to fish up new pets. The Pet Journal has clues on where these elusive pets could be found.

Fish of the Day: On any given day, there is a location in Pandaria teeming with a type of Pandaren fishing pool.

Ben of the Booming Voice, located near the Halfhill Market area will inform players what the “Fish of the Day” is and mark the location on their map.

Jewelcrafting

Jewelcrafters may find the designs for Serpent’s Heart and uncut Primal Diamonds during the course of their adventures (world drops).

Serpent’s Heart is a daily cooldown that consumes several Serpent’s Eyes to create a random rare quality Pandaren gem. In addition, there is a small chance that a player will discover the design for the Sapphire Cub or Jade Owl.

The design for uncut Primal Diamonds requires Spirits of Harmony and large quantities of uncommon gems.

Leatherworking

Patterns for Magnificence of Leather and Magnificence of Scales could be found via world drops. These patterns allow the leatherworker to create Magnificent Hides more economically and share a daily cooldown. In addition to producing a Magnificent Hide, the leatherworker will learn a new 5.2 raid or PvP pattern.

A new 36 slot leather bag (Magnificent Hide Pack) can now be created through Leatherworking.

Tailoring

New raid and PvP recipes have been added, and tailors can acquire these new recipes via the daily Imperial Silk cooldown.

The Reputation panel on the character screen will now let players know which reputations they have purchased and used Grand Commendations for.

There is now an option to show absorb effects (such as Power Word: Shield) on player, target, party and raid frames. This feature is currently enabled if you turn on the predictive healing option. Unlike predictive healing, absorb effects will display for enemy targets.